to feast on vegan hot dogs had they been available back then...
/s
Posted on 05/01/2022 12:45:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Despite their high status, Anglo-Saxon royalty didn't regularly feast on copious amounts of meat and fish. Rather, these medieval rulers dined primarily on vegetables, just like the commoners they ruled over, according to two new studies.
In fact, social hierarchy did not have any bearing on the amount of meat consumed; both royalty and peasants chowed down on large amounts of meat only occasionally, the research revealed. It wasn't until the Vikings settled in what is now the United Kingdom in the ninth century and onward that meat became more common on the menu, the team reported.
The findings are based on the analysis of more than 2,000 deceased individuals from the Anglo-Saxon era, which showed no evidence of these people eating "much animal protein on a regular basis," Sam Leggett, a bioarchaeologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said in a statement, as well as an investigation into Anglo-Saxon records about food consumption.
These findings surprised Tom Lambert, a historian at Sidney Sussex College at the University of Cambridge who had studied medieval texts that indicated that the Anglo-Saxons did eat a lot of meat.
So, the two paired up to investigate the reality of Anglo-Saxon cuisine. The pair analyzed food lists, both royal and nonroyal, from southern England during the reign of King Ine of Wessex (circa 688 to 726). These food lists showed that people feasted on a large amount of meat, a modest amount of bread, a decent quantity of ale and no vegetables.
However, the duo soon realized that these food lists weren't menus for everyday living but instead spreads for rare lavish feasts.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
These ancestors were not vegans. They just supplimented their diuets with meat. Sources of meat have other functions which amend a diet: chickens lay eggs, cows provide milk and milk prodcuts and fertilizer, and sheep provide wool, and pigs ... well I like bacon so I’ll stop there.
“To Serve Man”
/s
Well that piece of information goes against the grain.
Actually the Romans were mostly gone by AD 600. The Anglo-saxons really started moving into the island around 500-600. Even then the Celtic Britons kicked their butts for the next 200-300 years until the Viking age began.
When were oats, barley, rye and millet introduced?
They had that. But remember they are as far north as the Hudson Bay. So they have small farms plowed by horse with a very short growing season. They get one crop. And they have to feed the animals. So meats and fish are by far the largest source of food for 9 months of the year. Plus it was much colder back then. So winters were longer and colder.
You could store fats, salted meats, root veggies, beer and wine, butter and cheeses. And flour but not flour like we have. Flour was more rye and millet and it was whole flour, coarsely ground.
The Roman army marched on grain and salt.
There were plenty of times and societies over the centuries where meat was a flavoring and not a ration.
Yea, thanks. I knew I was wrong about the Romans, but didn’t have my history straight. Point made, either way.
Baldrick ate turnips.
No.
Lol! No worries. Just so happens that I’m currently reading Winston Churchill’s “History of the English Speaking Peoples”, Volume 1_, The Birth Of Briton (this period); from about 65BC through 1500AD is where I’m currently at... Magnificent books. Four volumes.
Yup
I read the whole set about every 10 years. Weird huh.
You mean Normans, don’t you?
I've never tried them - and never will.
But I know some dedicated vegetarians who have -
years ago - and they were not impressed at all.
Perhaps the things have gotten better since then -
but somehow I think probably not.
It is important to notice that the Vikings, the meat eaters, won that fracas.
The Normans didn’t arrive in numbers until 1066AD when William the “Conqueror” invaded England at Hastings. The Normans defeated Anglo-Saxon King Harold.
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